Author Archives: Chase & Britt
free book
My friend told me about a free pregnancy book on Kindle and I am so glad she did! And I wanted to share it with you. Click here to get it.
It’s called “Christian Mama’s Guide to Having a Baby: Everything You Need to Know to Survive (and Love) Your Pregnancy”. Chase downloaded it for me last night and I started it this afternoon. And I am really enjoying it so far. It is exactly the kind of book I was wanting to read- easy, lighthearted, encouraging, and about pregnancy! Remember the post about my homesickness? Well, I was pregnant then, just not telling anyone 🙂 and I think a lot the reason for my feeling dissatisfied with life here & longing for home was my hormones (and partly just how I felt and sometimes feel regardless of anything- its not easy living oceans away from everything familiar, everyone I love & who loves me, but I know its worth it). When my friend suggested I get a good book to read outside this book is what I was wanting! What a blessing that it is free & I have it now to enjoy. And even though I am in a better state-of-mind and not all emotional (well as…) and such, I still need encouragement and a good reminder of the blessing & gift that this baby is to us. That the waiting period (sometimes it feels sooo long!- 9 months!, well 5 now- crazy) is a great time to put my trust in the Lord, wait on Him, draw closer to Him, pray for my baby, prepare my heart to be still before the Lord and to be a mamma that raises her kids to love and honor the Lord- wow what a job! I know that I am incapable of this task without the Lord. He will be my strength, He will direct my path and my words, and give me wisdom when all I want to do is scream or cry or run, or all of the above. I am thankful that I am getting this friendly reminder now to use my pregnancy for the Lord and use it as a time of resting and trusting solely in Him. Only by His hand will we be holding our bundle of joy at the end of September and I want to be praising His name for it and to look back at my time pregnant as sweet time with the Lord. So here’s to a fresh start and a renewed spirit!
All this to say, if you pregnant for the first time (not sure if second or third time mom’s would get as much out of it, it has a lot of first timer information in it… but maybe?- always good to be told to honor the Lord with all our lives) you should download this book today, not sure how long it will be free!
16 weeks…
and counting! Can’t believe we are already at 16 weeks! The second trimester is defiantly going by faster than the first. Like I mentioned before, I am loving having more energy (I still enjoy an occasional nap and am trying to get to bed by 10:30, but I don’t feel like I am dragging all day). I also feel at a better place emotionally- I have a clearer (for the most part) mind and am able to think about the future and be excited about it instead of overwhelmed. We are enjoying watching my belly grow and am entertained by some of my Chinese friends at school who like to comment on my growing size daily– its going to be awesome when my ankles start swelling and my cheeks fill out… I am sure they will be pointing it out! 🙂
*saw this on someone else’s blog & thought it would be fun to start doing it myself
How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain: about 5 lbs or so… give or take… I actually never weighed myself right before I got pregnant, so it’s a guess
Maternity clothes? Not yet
Stretch marks? None so far!
Sleep: started sleeping with a pillow between my legs to get used to it… and I get up at about 6:30 or 7 EVERY morning for the bathroom!
Best moment this week: Talking to Chase about possibly having Jord take pictures during the birth of our baby and looking over at him with tears a glistening in his eyes… I asked him what he was thinking about and he said about holding our baby one day!
Miss Anything? Just my liking for Arab food… it makes eating out here a lot harder since that is about all there is to eat if I don’t want to cook!
Movement: I think I have felt little flutters- kind of like bubbles or little mouse feet running in my tummy- this week!! I know it seems early, but I really do feel like I have felt them every evening for the past few days… amazing feeling!
Food cravings: fruit smoothies, meat, eggs
Anything making you queasy or sick: Arab food still
Gender: ?? we find out in 1 ½ weeks!
Labor Signs: Nope- way too early for that!
Symptoms: stretching pains in my stomach as it grows, headaches, and heartburn if I wait to eat at night
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and thankful at the moment! … but maybe I should have Chase answer this one 😉
Looking forward to: feeling more movements and finding out if we are going to have a boy or girl!! Which means I can start thinking more about the nursery!
I have an exciting announcement before I end this post…
Our little McNugget is going to have another cousin just 2 months younger!! My sister Brooke is pregnant again!! She is due sometime at the end of November. We are so excited for them and feel blessed to be on this journey with them. As many of you know, my sister has another sweet baby girl dancing in heaven right now (for 5 months now)- there is not a day that goes by that she (or any of us) don’t think about sweet Blair, but we are thankful that the Lord chose to bless them with another child so quickly. It is going to be an exciting, long, scary 9 months for them, but I know that with the Lord’s strength and your prayers they will look back at it as a blessed time when they are holding their little miracle. Please join us in prayer for them. Check out her blog for updates and to read about the beauitful journey that the Lord is taking them on turning ashes into beauty. I am so proud of them and their faith.
p.s. I can’t tell you how excited I am that our babies will get to have cousins so close in age- practically twins! I know they will be living an ocean apart, but I am confident they will be bff!
“Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!” 1 Chronicles 16:10
April 7 – April 13
April 7: Spent a great day with a friend in Sohar and ended the trip with a grocery run to Carrefour… closest thing to Walmart here- not in our town, but thankful it is just an hour away!
April 8: Easter morning I made homemade cinnamon rolls by none other than the Pioneer Woman- delicious!
April 9: Chase went to run some errands in the morning so I decided to sit outside and get a little reading done- it was lovely and not too hot in the shade
April 10: Chase & I went to visit our teacher, his wife and their 2 month old little girl! She is so sweet… also, don’t you just love how happy Chase looks in this pic? Can’t wait to see him with our peanut!
April 11: playing “house” at our place after dinner… Sayla’s face is classic!
April 12: Finished my first bottle of prenatal vitamins… on to the next bottle 🙂
April 13: that’s right baby is 16 weeks this week! Went to Jord’s for my weekly (bi-weekly) pic.
mcgough trip (part 2)
I am back with more pics of the mcgough trip! (can you tell I have more energy in 2nd trimester?! I am trying to catch up on the blog while this wonderful energy lasts!)
…more exploring, more memories, and more fun!
Jebel Akhdar “green mountain” visit. We drove up the tallest mountain in Oman and stayed at a hotel up there… enjoyed the sights, food, cooler weather and an early night to bed. On our way up we stopped and were invited for coffee and dates with the guards. They also honored us by giving us “rose water” to rub on our hands and hair, this water is made on the mountain and is used for cooking, medicinally, for celebrations and used to be used as perfume. I have to admit, I am not a fan of the strong smell- it smelled like smoked meat because of the way they make it- which is by distilling and boiling the flowers, read this article if you are curious about the history and making of this Oman tradition. This was a fun cultural experience.
Next stop: Nizwah Souk (“market”)- we have heard that on Friday mornings this place is happening… I hope to visit it one day on a Friday, but it was still nice to shop around even if we were one of the only groups of shoppers.
Next-door to the souk is the Nizwah Fort… we Chase & Cecil (Glenda & I were done in about an hour) spent 2 hours exploring and checking out this historical place. It was really neat and a fun stop.
After exploring the interior cities of our country we came back to our town and rested for a few days before our final trip to Al Ain and Dubai. In Al Ain we got to show them the hospital where our peanut will be born! I think it helped them feel better about us staying here for the birth. I didn’t take many pictures of our “resting” days.
Dubai- the city of man-made beauty, malls and a taste of America with an Arab flair! Oh how I love getting to go on weekend get-a-ways here every once and a while. The first night we took them to the Burj Khalifa for some yummy Italian food (don’t think I mentioned before but all I really wanted to eat while they were here was Italian food- I think I calculated that we ate it 8 times during their 19 days with us! sorry guys… didn’t know you were gonna come to the Middle East for Italian food did you?!) and the water show. It is a must see if you ever travel to Dubai. On a side note, the restaurant we ate at serves gummy bears instead of mints at the cashier counter and has fresh basil plants at every table- love it!
Musandam is about a two 1/2 hour drive from Dubai so we decided to take a day trip there for a Dhow boat cruise, snorkeling, and dolphin watching. It was well worth the drive! Gorgeous views and beautiful weather. And a bonus was that neither Glenda or I got sick on the boat- Praise Jesus cuz we both lean toward getting sick on moving objects.
Our last night in Dubai we did a desert Safari. What a crazy, fun, somewhat scary experience! We trusted our lives (including our child’s life!) with a shabab (“young guy”) driving an SUV across the sand dunes. I thought for sure a few times we were going to flip, but thankfully we never did! We all had a great time…however, Glenda said she thinks it was a one-time thing for her, as she had her eyes closed the whole time worrying about her 8th grandchild while getting sick- poor thing.
After the sand dune ride they brought us to a desert camp where we got to enjoy a short camel ride, a traditional Arab BBQ, and entertainment by a belly dancer and Tanoura (this dance form originated in Turkey) dancer. It was a fun touristy-cultural experience that I hope we get to take anyone who comes to visit us on.
Like I said before we had a wonderful time getting to show Glenda and Cecil around. It was a blessing to get to share this part of our lives with loved ones. Thanks for the great memories!
We can’t wait for our next visitors! Let us know when you are coming 🙂
He has Risen!!
He has Risen indeed!
“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:14, 20
Hope you all had (are having) a blessed Easter! This was one of my favorite days last year & this year was just a great! I feel like without all the extra “American culture” stuff flooding the stores & our minds out here it is easier (for me) to focus on the true reason for the day. Here are some of the things we did today…
It started out at 5:45 am – thats right, am, we decided to go to the sunrise service in the desert for the second time this year and it was once again great! Scripture was read in 5 different languages- so beautiful!
Then we went and bought flowers for our yard to plant tomorrow, took naps & prepared for a BBQ as our house with some of our close friends! It was GREAT! We had 10 adults and 6 little girls under the age of 6 over. I am so thankful we have a place that we are able to entertain and enjoy our friends and some great food!
Happy Easter! We love & miss you all!
March 31 – April 6
March 31: Spring doily wreath- Jord & I made these & it only took an hour! (well Jord did spend several hours to dye the pink dollies…) Chase said it’s the best craft project ever: quick, cheap & cute! ha
April 1: “ducan” (small store) by our school- great during breaks for any foodstuff you might need!
April 2: We did a progressive dinner with some friends of ours… we started out with appetizers at our house- I made taco bites!
April 3: I didn’t take a picture all day and remembered when it was time for bed. Not a great pic, but… I love our bed, especially right now- it feels so good at the end of the day.
April 4: sunset & soccer in our neighborhood
April 5: one of my favorite things about living in another country is getting to met people from all over the world! we had some sweet new friends stay with us & she brought me these great earrings & tea spices from Zanzibar (she didn’t even know that chai tea is one of my favorite drinks ever!)
April 6: went to a “wadi” (or valley with mountains with small water pools at the bottom) with our dear friends- it was great to be outside enjoying the few days we have left before it gets unbearably hot here! I am worn out though from hiking & swimming!
mcgough trip (part 1)
as I had mentioned before Chase’s parents came for a visit a few weeks ago (can’t believe it is already April & their trip has come and gone… crazy how time does that) Anyway, I took over 1,200 pictures while they were here, I am pretty sure Cecil took that many as well. I am going to attempt to share with you the highlights of their trip- not sure how many parts there will be, but here is the start!
First, I want to say what a great time we had with them! It was such a blessing to have them come out and visit us, see our life out here, the country that we have fallen in love with, and see the people that our hearts have been drawn too. We covered a lot of ground while they were here and got to explore many things that Chase and I hadn’t even seen yet. Since I was at the end of my first trimester I tried to keep up…. but man I have never been so tired in my whole life as I was the first 3 months of our sweet-pea’s life!
Thanks coming to visit us! We love you both and miss you already!
March 2nd… picked the McGough’s up at the airport and made our way to the mall for some of our favorite pizza at UNO’s pizza (a place we always at together in ft. worth & of course they have it in Dubai!)
… to keep them awake from jet lag we decided to take them to Global Village- I think it did the trick (at least for an hour) & we got a little shopping in…
…our first stop in our country was to the capital… we stayed at a gorgeous guest house the first night…
… a visit to the capital is never complete without a trip to the Muttrah Souk downtown for some yummy Arab food, bargaining, and people watching…
… breakfast overlooking the ocean & exploring the fishermen boats by the sea…
… after breakfast we went on a driving tour which included the Sultan’s Palace…
… our last day in the capital we went to the Oman Dive Center– probably my favorite day… Chase & Cecil went snorkeling while Glenda and I enjoyed a beautiful view, delicious food and great conversation all while getting a slight tan! I think Cecil was a little tired after their outing 🙂
March 21 – March 30
March 21: Arabic school- yes, I bring a lot of drink to class…water, berry smoothie, and tea (ICED now)!
March 22: Date night with the wonderful hubs! Homemade pizza & a rented movie from i-tunes
March 23: Chase chattin’ with a local salesmen in the Muttrah Souk in Muscat
March 24: So excited that we found a yummy breakfast place in Muscat! Great food, great conversation with a sweet new friend
March 25: My old neighbor and good friend is a dentist & she invited me to an exhibition this week… this is her adorable son with one of the displays!
March 26: I was craving sweet and sour chicken… so we took a trip to Sohar to have some & saw Huger Games while we were there! I have a great husband!
March 27: don’t be fooled… this is not a real coffee shop, as in Sugar Browns or someplace awesome like that, they have these little shops all over- the serve a variety of Arab & fried food and fruit juices- not sure if they even serve coffee…
March 28: a project I did for a friend who made her daughter a loft hideout & wanted to hang her name on the wall behind it- can’t wait to see how it all turned out.
March 29: Confession: I am not great at eating my veggies… so I am trying to come up with dishes I like with them in it, you know for the baby, Chase was giving me the thumbs up for making this veggie stir fry! It was delicious!
March 30: Loving 2nd trimester so far… I have more energy to work-out & such! Chase got this for me right after we found out we were preggo.
Yey! Finally caught up! Sorry for taking soooo long… guess I have been busy making a baby or something 🙂 hope to be better this month!
March 6 – March 20
ah.. finally updated these! Enjoy a recap of the last month…
March 6: Our view from the guesthouse in Muscat with stayed in with Chase’s parents… beautiful!
March 7: Cecil enjoying people-watching at the “souk” (market) in Muscat
March 8: Exploring Muscat…. here we are at the Sultan’s Palace
March 9: On top of “jebal akthar” (green mountain)- it was colder up there! Hope to go back when its 130 degrees & I am 7 months pregnant!
March 10: Exploring the Nizwa Souk & Fort- love seeing all the local artifacts at this souk
March 11: Biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs, & bacon.. Chase’s face says it all!
March 12: My mother-in-law, Glenda, makes the best chocolate fudge sauce! I requested she make it for us while she was here… yummy! All that was missing was Blue Bell vanilla ice cream!
March 13: Glenda’s first lunch with a local family – it was a success & lots of fun!
March 14: Picnic at the park with the sweet girl! She did great so Uncle Chase and I got her some strawberry ice cream!
March 15: Water fountain show below the “Burj (tower) Khalifa”(worlds tallest building) in Dubai.
March 16: Musandam for a dhow boat cruise & dolphin watching! God’s creations are so amazing!
March 17: Desert Safari in Dubai… the sand dunes were amazing, the ride was a little scary, but worth it for the pictures!
March 18: worst part of traveling… full suite case of dirty clothes
March 19: Spaghetti lunch with this adorable girl- love my Gigi!
March 20: night visit with these sweet local friends & a friend from the states who came to visit us (in the middle)
“ana hamal!!”
meaning, “I am PREGNANT!!” in Arabic! Yup, that’s right, we are going to have a sweet baby “mcnugget” around September 25th! We are beyond excited and feel extremely blessed to be on this journey of becoming parents!
Future Red Raider class of 2034!
My wonderful craft-y, photographer friend, Jord, and I have been taking pictures of my growing belly the past few weeks (isn’t she great!?)… I am so excited to watch our baby grow inside me! I know that we live across the ocean, but we wanted to keep you all involved & help you feel like you are watching the process with us! Hope this will help all of you feel a little closer to us and know how we are feeling, what we are thinking and how our baby is doing.
And this week…
Since we waited a little while to post this exciting news, I have been keeping a journal of how we found out about our tiny miracle, how I have been feeling, cravings, dislikes, prayers, hopes, little notes for our baby to read one day… And I plan on keeping it up. However, I thought I would share a few things with you all on here…
On January 23, 2012 I decided to take a pregnancy test (without Chase knowing) and after a few minutes two pink lines showed up!! I was so shocked! I mean I have taken a few of these tests before and that had never happened before… so I knew that we were in for a new adventure! I decided to write Chase a note, “How do you feel about having a lil’ red raider in our family?!” with a Tech onesie & the test and put it by the coffee pot. Now this was quite early in the morning on the weekend… so naturally Chase was still sleeping and of course I couldn’t fall asleep- I was going to be a mom! Who could sleep after that kind of news?! So I waited patiently for Chase to get out of bed… Finally he got up, went to make coffee, saw my note and was in total shock, but the good kind! He came into where I was and asked if it was for real… I told him yup- I least I think so?! We hugged and thanked the Lord for blessing us with this gift and the little human growing inside of me! We decided to wait a few days before we told family and close friends… but I couldn’t wait too long. Several days later we made lots of skype calls and shared the news with loved ones across the ocean! We feel so blessed to become parents!
Some other fun facts…
I am now in my 2nd trimester and I am feeling so much better! It is so crazy how.tired.and.lazy I was during my first trimester. Chase said he has never seen me that tired! I hadn’t either! I was fortunate and never threw up, but had many moments where I wish I could have. I have craved bananas, chocolate cocconut milkshakes, pickles, pizza (esp Dions… which I can’t have here!), Greek dressing (also a Dion’s thing, but Jord helped make a replicate), Wendy’s (yey for having one in Dubai!), and breakfast food! I pretty much have to have yogurt with garnola, eggs (prepared anyway), and orange juice everyday….Things I can’t handle right now are canned green chile, taco soup, Arab food (I know this is rough since we live in the Arab world– hopefully my love for it will come back…one day), and Mexican food (another one of my previous loves). One of my favorite things about being pregnant so far has been seeing how excited Chase has been about it! He has been so great and such a blessing. He gets a huge smile on his face whenever we talk about it or whenever he looks at my belly.
We went to the doctor yesterday and got to hear our sweet baby’s heart beat! What a beautiful sound! 140 bpm! It was a great appointment and we love our doctor. Next, month we will already be finding out if its a boy or girl… can’t wait!
Well, I will be back with more pictures, stories and such later, but I will leave you with this verse…
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s whom. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139: 13
